Overheard outside the Ottawa courthouse where terrorist suspect Momin Khawaja is being tried:
A crowd is gathering around the kid and the old man.
"You weren't born when Igor Gouzenko was here in Ottawa. He worked for the Russian embassy in the 1940s. He went to the RCMP and exposed a big Russian spy ring operating in Canada. Out of the embassy. A member of Parliament was even involved. Igor Gouzenko was a hero and you don't even know about him. You don't even care what he did."
A squirrel skips across the nearby grass.
"Canadians are like that squirrel. No worries, everything's fine, just let me find my nuts."
A cynical snort from the kid. "You're the one who sounds like a nut. Look, I'm not saying he's innocent of terrorism or guilty, I'm saying it's ridiculous all the cops, all the security. It's overkill. We're only doing it to look like the Americans."
The old man grits his teeth.
"You really are an idiot. Because someone might have a reason to want to silence him? Have you ever heard of Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald? I didn't think so. You're an idiot. You're naive."
The kid bristles. "Speak for yourself. Canada is a safe country. We don't have terrorists here. He (Khawaja) lives in Ottawa. He didn't do anything to Ottawa, he didn't do anything to Canada, he's charged with being part of that terrorism thing in England, not here. When was there a terrorist attack in Canada? Why would a terrorist care about Canada? C'mon, get real."
"The court will make its decision on him. But, you're the one who needs to get real. Are you that stupid to believe Canada is safe from terrorists? It's only a matter of time. Did you not see that story in the paper the other day saying there are terrorist sleeper cells in Canada? If you're a terrorist, this is the best country in the world to work out of. Canadians need a wake-up call."
With a dismissive wave of his hand, the kid walks away from the old man whose name is Guenther Muller, 72, a retired engineer who emigrated to Canada in the early 1960s from Germany.
"His thinking is common in Canada," says Muller. "It's very frightening. Even when people are criminals in this country and get caught, there's either no justice or a flick on the wrist." (Edmonton Sun)
